


Reddie- Manhattan Is Alive [Apocalypse AU]

by inkgoblinz



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Cloverfield - Freeform, Georgie is alive but isn’t mentioned so don’t worry, I reference Bill Hader’s other works a little bit, I watched Cloverfield and wanted to write a fic, M/M, Pennywise doesn’t exist in this au, Stan is a father of twins and I’m soft, They were all able to grow up together and have a semi normal childhood, They’re still the Losers and had abuse and stuff, apocalypse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 11:13:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21298508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkgoblinz/pseuds/inkgoblinz
Summary: “Looks like you should’ve left a day earlier, Trashmouth,” Eddie said with a nervous smile.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Comments: 5
Kudos: 41





	Reddie- Manhattan Is Alive [Apocalypse AU]

**Author's Note:**

> So basically i watched the movie Cloverfield and thought “ok what if it was this, but the Losers experienced it. like, in a world without pennywise so this was the quirky horror they had to endure.” If you haven’t seen the movie, its a POV horror about a Godzilla esc monster attacking New York. I put my own little twist on the plot and such, I hope y’all enjoy it, I am a complete sucker for apocalypse aus, especially when two people fall in love during it.

27-SEP-2008, 0800, incident site “US-447”, area formerly known as “Central Park”.

It was 8:00 on a Friday night, and Richie was set to leave for L.A. the next day. Stan had the brilliant idea to take Richie out for one last walk through Central Park. It gave them a chance to catch up and act like kids again before his comedy career took off.

“Hey I’m glad that you and Patty are doing good,” Richie smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“She felt terrible for not being able to come, maternal life is demanding,” Stanley couldn’t help but smile.

“How are the twins doing?”

“The girls are great, two and a half years old and they’re already running the house.”

“Man that was two years ago. Are you sure Patty’s okay with taking care of them herself?”

“My mother-in-law flew into Atlanta two days before I left, besides Rich it’s only been a day, I’ll be home by tomorrow. Patty kicks ass with this whole stay at home mom gig anyways,” Stanley Uris marched up to a hot dog stand and ordered two with extra sauerkraut. Richie strode along next to him.

“I’ll never forget the day you called to tell me that Patty was pregnant,” the 32 year old man leaned against a lamp post as his best friend paid for the food.

“Yeah, you said that you couldn’t wait to be the creepy gay uncle,” Stan handed Richie a dog.

“Yeah that does sound like me,” he said with a laugh.

They ate and joked and walked through the park. It was late September, the leaves on the trees were beginning to brown. It was pretty dark, but the city was far too alive for there to be an uneasiness in anyone. A happy couple linked hand in hand strolled by the two men, and they passed different scenes of romance and city life illuminated by the lamp posts. They finished their meals and Richie wiped his hands on his pants. It always made him happy when he was able to spend time with any of his friends from Derry. The fact that they were still so close all these years later went against everything predictable. Stan surprised him last night to celebrate his big break.

“Remember when we were teens and we watched The Thing one Halloween while high?” Richie started, “And Eddie Kaspbrak got so disturbed that he puked all over Ben Hanscom’s new carpets? He had only eaten Almond Joy all night, the consistency of his puke was glorious. Heh, he would always spit the almond out, but refused to eat Mounds because Almond Joy ‘was just better’.” 

“Yeah I’ll never forget, because he would spit the nut at me every time I suggested to just eat Mounds,” Stan checked his phone, “And then you would join him and spit the almonds at me too. Wanna start heading back to your place?”

“Uh sure, I haven’t cleaned in a while so I apologize in advance,” Richie rubbed the back of his neck.

The fact that Richie was leaving for California tomorrow and his apartment was in apparent shambles was enough to have Stanley ask, “Are you still seeing that therapist?”

“My last appointment was a month ago, I had a lot to do for my big move...” Richie was clearly dodging further question. It took three years for Stanley to convince Richie to see a therapist, and another year for Richie to actually start going. As his best friend, Stan knew that Eddie’s wedding was the hardest thing Richie had to experience. He put on a brave face and showed up to the event, but got black out drunk and had to be dragged back to his hotel room by Stan before the night was over. The wedding was five years ago, he hasn’t really been the same since. Neither has Richie and Eddie’s friendship. They would have small interactions over the group chat, but that was basically it. The Losers last reunion was when Patty gave birth, and Eddie couldn’t show. His wife wouldn’t allow it, worried that his plane would crash based off some bullshit premonition she had. The whole situation sucked, Eddie even lived in Brooklyn, which was two seconds away from Richie in Manhattan. Yet he never visited, he was the only one that didn’t, and Richie took that to heart.

The two men hobbled up the steps to Richie’s apartment. It was a really nice piece of real estate, which was going to be painful for Richie Tozier to part with tomorrow. Richie fumbled with his door key.

“We can have a quick drink but I’m gonna have to hit the hay soon-ish, my flight is at seven tomorrow morning,” he said as he unlocked his door.

“You can sleep on the plane,” Stan couldn’t hide his smile as the door opened.

Lights flashed on.

“SURPRISE!!!”

Richie dropped his keys as confetti popped and what seemed like hundreds of people cheered for him. A big poster read “WE’LL MISS YOU TRASHMOUTH”. Richie’s eyes floated across the crowd, and he spotted Beverly, who stood next to Ben, then Bill, and Mike. A big grin grew on his face, which he covered lightly with one hand. Stan clapped behind him, then came up and patted his friend’s shoulder. Bev was the first to tackle, and the rest of the Losers were right behind her, swallowing Richie in a group hug.

Someone from the crowd shouted “SPEECH!”, and soon, everyone was chanting for a speech. Richie raised a hand and quieted the crowd down, his other hand was interlocked with Beverly’s. He knew how to work a crowd.

“This is, wow, this is hilarious, uhh, thank you guys, you would think that since I’m going to be performing comedy routines in front of crowds three times this size that I would know what to say,” he paused as people laughed, “No, this great thank you all so so much...” he trailed off as his eyes sorted through the crowd for one person in particular to no avail, “Uh yeah, let’s get drunk!”

The party erupted after that, with drinks being passed around, music bumping, and conversing ensued. The Losers gravitated toward each other. They all stood around a table holding shot glasses, and cheered, shooting down spiced rum to get the fun started. The rest of the party didn’t matter, as long as these six were together, they were in for a great time. They reminisce over Derry, having a drink after drink. It truly was a divine miracle that they stayed in touch, especially since they’ve known each other since middle school. What made the Losers special was their unbreakable bond, which stayed with them all throughout grade school. Even when college hit and they all split up, they managed to stay in touch. Stan, Mike, and Bill all went off to study out of state together in Florida, Ben and Bev wound up together in Massachusetts, leaving Eddie and Richie to go to school upstate. Some of their most legendary moments were in college. Parties, road trips, vacations together, graduating, drunken mistakes made, Sonia dying of a heart attack, Eddie meeting Myra in his hour of greatest need, them tying the knot a year later, all of these memories made Richie want to drink more. The fact that Eddie wasn’t here tonight wasn’t surprising, but that didn’t mean Richie didn’t have a right to be sad.

“Do you guys remember,” Beverly started, causing everyone to snap to attention and Richie to fall out of his own depressing thoughts, “Junior year of high school, on Halloween, when we went behind the cinema to smoke cigarettes and pot, and the weed turned out to be laced with PCP?”

“Oh my god I totally remember that,” Mike said after swallowing a mouthful of beer, “Bill threw up two times on the way to Dunkin Donuts and all over the table once we got there.”

Everyone laughed except for Bill, he was embarrassed.

“That was not a good day,” Denbrough said with a hidden grin.

“I remember how Ben got all paranoid and told Bill to ‘Put it back’ as he puked into the bushes,” Richie added, pointing his bottle at Ben, who gave an innocent look.

“Hey, that was my first time smoking give me a break!” Ben laughed.

“Thank god for Beverly though,” Stan added, “She’s the one who talked to the manager and got us out of any trouble.”

Beverly bore a sheepish grin as the men all agreed.

“What would you all do without me?” She joked as Ben wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead. Richie topped off his drink and went to poor another one. Watching Ben and Bev grow up and fall in love was bittersweet. He was happy for them, he truly was, it just didn’t seem fair considering the parallels between their relationship and what he and Eddie once had. They were the first to get married out of all of the Losers, right after college. Eddie had brought Myra to the wedding and introduced her as his new girlfriend, and that was the last push Richie needed to move to Manhattan. He didn’t regret it, it only became awkward when Eddie and his newly wedded wife moved to New York as well. A selfish part of him thought it was because Eddie wanted to be close to him, but he always insisted that it was for work.

People floating in and out of the building all night, music seemed to pour from every window, and overall, the atmosphere was light hearted. Richie was in the middle of playing an intense round of Poker with Stan and Bill when the door opened and five more people flooded in. His mouth turned dry when he locked eyes with Eddie Kaspbrak, and he pulled away from the game suddenly. Stan furrowed his eyebrows, but a wave of understanding hit when he realized who his friend was staring at. Richie rushed over to the door.

Eddie smiled and held up a small bag, “Hey Trashmouth, figured I’d stop by and-“ His sentence was cut short when Richie threw him into a bear hug. The bag fell from Eddie’s hands, and he hesitated before hugging back just as tightly.

Richie pulled back and broke into a pained grin, “You son of a bitch, I didn’t think you would make it!”

“I didn’t think I would either! We were in town with a couple of Myra’s friends grabbing dinner and I managed to convince her to let us stop by,” Eddie gestured to his wife and three other women standing behind him. Myra gave a forced smile.

“Our friends, Eddie,” she corrected him and walked over in between the two men.

“Long time no see, Myra,” Richie tried his best to look glad and she nodded.

“Yup, so uh, California, huh? You’ll sure um, you’ll fit right in over there!” Myra scrunched up her nose and gave a smile. Richie didn’t know what she meant by that, and the more he thought about it, he realized he didn’t want to.

Myra turned to Eddie.

“Eddie-bear, I don’t want to stay here long, you know how I feel about house parties.”

“I promise this’ll be two seconds sweetheart,” he kissed her forehead quickly, and she rolled her eyes and walked away with her three friends to occupy themselves.

Richie watched her leave and muttered, “She hasn’t changed much.”

“No not really, but you, wow Rich, a lot can change in five years, huh?” Eddie gave Richie a once over, taking in every new detail about the man. Richie did the same.

“You too Spaghetti man, you look uh, fit!” Richie cringed at his pathetic attempt at a complement. Eddie laughed.

“Spaghetti man, I uh, haven’t heard that one in a while,” he rubbed his neck. 

“Oh shit!” Kaspbrak exclaimed suddenly, causing Richie to jump a little, and he realized how on edge he was. Eddie reached down and picked up the bag he dropped, then dug into it and frowned.

“Goddammit,” he said as he pulled out a now shattered snow globe off the Brooklyn Bridge, “I am so sorry Richie, this was supposed to be a going away present and-“

“You know what, I love it,” he took the broken gift from the anxious man’s hands. 

“It’s like a totem. I’d say this is pretty on brand for us, don’t you think?”

All Eddie could do was smile.

“I missed you, Richie,” he said softly.

“I missed you too, Eds,” he replied and slowly reached a hand out, then clenched his fist and shoved it back in his pocket.

“All the Losers missed you too, dumbass. Take off your jacket and stay a while, they’re dying to see you!”

Eddie nodded and rolled his eyes, throwing off his jacket. It took every ounce in Richie’s being to not drool over the movement of Eddie’s muscles under his lavender dress shirt as he took off his coat. Eddie was really in great shape, he must go for runs often, Richie thought. He was no longer the gangly little kid from college. It was almost embarrassing comparing Richie’s premature dad bod to Eddie. The one feature on Kaspbrak that was mildly concerning were the tired, sunken in eyes, much like Richie’s.

The Losers were ecstatic to see Eddie. Mike threw him into a noogie after Ben nearly drowned him in a tight hug. Eddie was the shortest of everyone, which was tastefully comical.

“So, risk analysis, huh?” Stan patted him lightly on the back.

“Ah yeah, it’s a job, you know? The money’s fine, but I’m thinking of going back to school and studying microbiology.”

“Oh wow, really?” Bill added.

“Yeah, I dunno, my firm isn’t fantastic and I think I’m just ready for a change.”

Beverly smiled, “I love that for you Eds, good luck with that.”

“It’s just a thought though, Myra says that it’s not in our budget to go back to school right now,” Eddie shrugged and sipped red wine lightly.

“Isn’t Myra a nurse?” Stan raised an eyebrow.

“Ah no she prefers the term L.P.N.” Eddie nodded.

“...So a nurse,” Richie stated.

“L.P.N. stands for licensed practical nurse, right?” Mike asked.

Eddie paused.

“Okay yeah she’s a nurse,” he finally agreed.

“I’m sure her paychecks aren’t bad,” Mike added.

“If you need help creating a budgeting plan to go back to school, all you have to do is ask,” Stan the accountant said.

Eddie hesitated again. Richie watched how the topic was beginning to make Eddie uncomfortable, so he changed the subject for Eddie’s sake. His concern didn’t leave though. Eddie finding excuses to not pursue something he was clearly interested in was exactly the same as him when he was younger acting like he didn’t want to watch horror movies with his friends because his mom had him convinced that he would never sleep again. Eddie married his mother, his manipulative, abusive, neglectful mother.

“Hey remember when we went camping on Mike’s farm and swore we saw Bigfoot?” Richie successfully distracted everyone from that upsetting fact, and the night was back on the right track.

Beer pong ensued for the Losers, Richie and Bill vs. Stan and Eddie, and the others watched. This almost felt like a dream for Richie. Watching Eddie slam down a red solo cup of Budweiser made him feel like they were in college again. Richie had reviewed a million times in his head what he would do and say to Eddie the next time he saw him, and he was doing none of it. This moment of celebration didn’t have room for a depressive episode, and Eddie was here, that was enough. 

One of the women that arrived with Eddie walked over to him, smiled at the Losers, then pulled him aside and gestured to his wife who was standing impatiently at the door. Eddie’s half drunken smile faded, and he held up a hand to his friends, but looked at Richie. He mouthed, “One sec,” and walked quickly over to Myra, and her friend followed him. Beverly took his place in the game, but Richie lost all focus. He stared at the scene across the room. He couldn’t exactly hear what Myra was shouting at Eddie, but he guessed it wasn’t a loving and understanding conversation. Eddie was clearly embarrassed, he didn’t like being the center of attention and Myra was causing a bit of a scene, people were starting to stare. The argument ended with Eddie agreeing to something, and Myra storming out the door with her friends. Eddie stayed standing in one place, shoving his hands in his pockets. He tapped his foot lightly and didn’t look too sure about what to do next.

“Hey Mike, I’m tapping you in bud,” Richie said before leaving the game and meeting Eddie across the room. Mike gladly took to the festivities.

“Eds, you on this planet?” Richie snapped a few times in front of Eddie’s eyes until he snapped back to reality.

“Hey there you are,” Richie smiled a little, and Eddie smiled back.

“I’m sorry about Myra, she’s-“

“The worst?”

Eddie laughed lightly.

“What was that about?” Richie asked.

“She doesn’t like when I drink, worried I’m gonna destroy my liver.”

“It’s called celebrating, she’s the reason we never get to see you.”

Eddie nodded, he was clearly exhausted from defending her.

“She dragged me out tonight with her friends to some dinner theater thing, which, news flash, fucking sucked. She made these plans after I told her about this surprise party Stan was planning and insisted that I do what she wanted to do instead. It took a lot of convincing for her to let me drop by, we were in town but she didn’t want to come in the first place, yada yada yada, she’s tired and is going back to Brooklyn with her friends. I have to find my own way home.”

Richie crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, “Holy shit, dinner theater?? The Edward Kaspbrak I know wouldn’t be caught dead within a twenty foot radius of one of those bad boys!”

The two laughed a little over that painfully true statement, then fell silent.

“Why do you put up with her?” Rich finally asked.

Eddie stared at his feet, then wondered, “Mind if we step outside?”

The terrace was pretty empty compared to inside the apartment, aside for a handful of drunks needing fresh air and the occasional smoker. The music sounded more distant behind closed doors, it added an ambiance to the view of the city they had from here. Richie leaned his forearms against the railing and looked out across Manhattan. There was something about New York that was so right, unlike Derry. Manhattan was practically a living, breathing entity, constantly on the move, constantly changing. He loved that about this place, and he would miss it. The smell of nicotine smoke snapped him out of his thought process, and he turned to see Eddie Kaspbrak, infamous asthmatic, taking a deep pull from a cigarette next to him.

“Eds! The fuck man?” Richie sounded more concerned than he’d like to admit.

Eddie gave a questionable look.

“What?”

“You smoke??”

“Myra doesn’t know, it helps me relax.”

“Those things are shit for your lungs!”

Eddie turned cold, “You know, for someone who hates my wife you’re sounding a lot like her right now.”

Richie shut up. His gaze lazily trailed back across the city. Eddie sighed, and dropped the cigarette, putting it out with his foot.

“I need to quit, I know, it’s just the one thing I have that she doesn’t know about, something that I have that’s all to myself. It’s like rebelling against-“

“Your mom?”

Richie almost felt bad for saying it, but it had to be said. Those words gave Eddie a visceral reaction, and he swallowed dryly and sat against the railing. They sat in silence for a while.

“I’m not a happy man, Richie, I have regrets and I’m too much of a fucking pussy to do anything about it.”

“Welcome to the club,” Richie muttered, still staring out across the city.

“I think about you a lot, Rich. I think about us...”

Richie winced and closed his eyes, trying not to face the elephant in the room. But he caved. 

“I’m sorry that I made things weird Eddie, I never got to apologize for what I did,” he finally sputtered.

“What are you talking about?” Eddie asked.

“After college, at that party. We were both incredibly drunk and I cuddled up to you in the basement, and one thing lead to the next and we got caught half naked, any of that ring a bell?” Richie ran his hands through his hair at the memory, waves of pent up emotion all hitting at once.

Eddie played with the wrist cuffs of his shirt.

“I wasn’t that drunk.” Eddie confessed.

Richie met his eyes, he felt like he could pass out.

“Neither was I...”

“Oh...”

“Yeah...”

“Why did you stop talking to me after that..?”

Richie didn’t know the correct answer.

“I thought I crossed a line. I thought that you... That it was safer to just... not.”

Eddie nodded, understanding. This conversation between the two was long overdue, nearly ten years in the making. 

“The only reason I married Myra, I thought that you- and my then my mom-...”

“I know, I get it.”

Eddie believed that. He met Richie’s eyes once more.

That’s when the first earthquake hit. The ground convulsed, sending the apartment building swaying. Eddie lost his footing and came tumbling down into Richie, who was able to hold them both up. Shouts of fear and confusion came tumbling from their mouths as all the power in the city went out, leaving them in total darkness. Screams echoed from inside the city.

“Eddie are you okay?” Richie squinted in the darkness and helped Eddie to his feet.

“Yeah I’m pretty good!” He said, obviously shaken up. 

Their eyes adjusted in the dark.

“Was that an earthquake??” Richie asked.

Eddie looked around and nodded, “Yeah, I think so. Looks like it took the power out with it. Maybe the universe is trying to prepare you for California, giving you a taste of San Andreas,” Eddie joked, trying to add levity to the situation.

“Maybe this is punishment for us going almost a decade without having this talk,” Richie added.

The lights came back without warning, and the two men were left squinting as their eyes readjusted. They scrambled back inside the apartment to reconvene with the others. Panic ensued inside, no one knew what had just happened.

“Guys!” Beverly shouted in relief as Richie and Eddie came back into view. She hugged them.

“What was that?” She asked as they were in her arms. The other Losers were behind her, all with different expressions of concern and confusion.

“Earthquake, followed by a power outage,” Eddie answered and pulled away from her arms.

Ben was staring in the direction of the crowd, which was now surrounding the television, watching a live broadcast of some breaking news.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Eddie,” he said, and the Losers all gathered around the TV with the rest of the party to listen to the following.

“...reports of a Cargo Barge capsizing in the Hudson River, eye witnesses say that it came from the water...”

It was almost impossible to hear over all the miscellaneous conversations.

“You hear that?” Bill said to his friends, “The Hudson River. Think we could see that from the roof?”

It didn’t take long to rally up most of the party to scope the roof and quench their curiosities. The walk up the stairs was noisy as people discussed theories, thoughts, and fears. The Losers stayed in a group, lead by Big Bill. Eddie stuck entirely too close to Richie, but he didn’t mind. 

The roof was already scattered with dozens of other confused residents. Everyone from the party reconvened as the staircase emptied out onto the pavilion. The Losers looked out onto the city, realizing that not all buildings had their power back yet.

“Guess we can count our blessings,” Stan said with a light laugh.

Ben had his arms wrapped tightly around his wife, and Beverly clung to him, protective. Bill and Mike were squinting out over the balcony, assessing the gravity of the situation. Eddie looked around at the light chaos, then reached into his pocket and grabbed his inhaler. _ Puff _. Richie hadn’t taken his eyes off Eddie since they reached the roof. He put a hand on the asthmatic’s shoulder and gave him a look of solace.

“Looks like you should’ve left a day earlier, Trashmouth,” Eddie said with a nervous smile.

Richie went to say something snarky back, but was interrupted when a thunderous boom came from the middle of the city miles away. People shrieked, staring at the massive explosion that just occurred in terror. In a whim, Richie clung to Eddie. They watched in horror as giant chunks of debris became airborne. Richie studied it carefully, then realized with terror that one flaming piece of rubble the size of two school busses was headed straight for the apartment complex.

“Run...” he was too quiet, possibly in shock, then snapped himself out of it and screamed, “RUN, GO GO!!!”

He couldn’t process everything around him as he grabbed Eddie’s hand and ran with the crowd down the staircase. The sound of destruction and screams as the debris hit the roof echoed through his mind the whole way down and out of the building. He thinks he fell down the stairs at some point, and that Bill helped him up, but he wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. He remembers not being able to let go of Eddie’s hand, even when he fell, nearly causing the man to topple on top of him. He turned back into reality when the tidal wave of panicked humans surrounding him bled out onto the street outside. Richie looked around him. Eddie was at his side, doubled over catching his breath. Bill was at his other side, standing next to Mike. Stan was also there, consoling a panicked Beverly, and the worst thoughts came to Richie’s mind when he heard what the woman was repeating.

“Where’s Ben??? Has anyone seen Ben???” She chanted over and over. Stan had his hands on her shoulders, attempting to be comforting in his own confusion. Richie stumbled back in panic, then relief washed over him as Ben caught up with them and scooped his wife into a hug. 

“Fuck!” Richie exclaimed, then turned to Bill for any form of comfort. 

Unfortunately, their fearless leader was just as scared shitless as everyone else. Richie then turned to Eddie, and Eddie was staring down the street, his eyes wide like a deer in headlights. Richie shot his attention in the direction Eddie was looking, and to his horror, he saw it. Whatever the fuck it was, it stood as tall as the sky scrapers, and it bellowed a terrible roar. The sheer destruction just from it traveling through the city kicked up enough detritus to obscure the frame of the creature, but Richie could make out that it was holding something, and it was making its way down their street. People were running away, but Richie felt frozen. It took both Bill and Stan to snap Richie out of it.

“Rich! Hey, Richie, c’mon man we gotta go!” Bill shook him, and Stan went over to Eddie who was in the same state of shock.

Richie blinked a few times, then nodded and became hyper aware of his breathing. 

“Right, right we gotta go.” He looked over to Eddie, who was hyperventilating and using his inhaler, then back to the looming mass that was moving hauntingly slow in their direction. Something was flung from the cloud of debris, and coincidentally, was making a beeline to where the Losers stood. Richie, on a whim, grabbed Eddie by the arm and dragged him out of the line of fire. The others followed on instinct, blissfully unaware of the giant object hurtling towards them. It landed, bounced from sheer inertia, then landed on the ground. It was the head of the Statue of Liberty.

A choir of screams and curses came in reaction to what looked like an act of terrorism. The only difference from terrorists were the huge claw marks across the statue’s face. Another eruption sounded, and to the horror of Richie, the Empire State Building was falling to the ground. 

A wave of smoke and debris flooded the street, shrouding everyone’s vision. The Losers all clung to each other in the form of a chain, and what sounded like giant footsteps was their indication to finally run in the opposite direction. They followed a wave of pedestrians into a convenient store, and took shelter behind linoleum isles as the booming footsteps got closer. The shaking was so violent that the power began to flicker. 

Richie crouched in the back corner, leaning up against the beef jerky section, facing six packs of beer for sale. He realized how quickly he was breathing and tried to calm himself, then faced Eddie who sat next to him, who was taking another his off his inhaler. Tozier turned the other way and saw the rest of the Losers taking shelter in similar positions across the back isles among five other strangers. They all looked at each other with manic confusion. Richie turned back to Eddie.

“Eddie, I can’t have you passing out of me, okay? You gotta get that breathing under control.”

Eddie nodded and brought a fist up to his mouth as a muffle.

Richie continued, “Inhale and hold it for three seconds at a time, you hear me?”

Eddie did as instructed as a gargantuan, clawed foot landed right outside the door. Eddie’s breathing normalized as the beast started to pass. The lights stopped flickering, and the primal fear everyone felt was properly illuminated by white light. 

Bill waiting until the booming footsteps were appropriately distant before he stood up and slinked to the door.

“Bill? Bill where the fuck are you going??” Beverly stood up and followed him, which was an indication for the rest of the Losers to follow. Eddie was the last to get to his feet, he was light headed so Richie helped him up. Outside, the destruction was unfathomable. Bill walked out into the middle of the street, looked around him, and realized he was standing in the middle of a giant foot print. Eddie sat on the curb of the road, and Richie looked back at him twice, then crouched down next to him.

“Eddie, c’mon now isn’t the time for a power nap,” he cupped Eddie’s cheek lightly and noticed a small cut from the flying debris.

“That thing...” Eddie was still in shock.

“I know, I know it’s a terrible thing.”

“No, it was eating people Richie.” 

Their eyes locked, and the danger unfolded.

Richie launched to his feet and walked over to the other Losers.

“We have to get out of Manhattan.”

“Yeah no shit dickhead,” Stan snapped.

Richie grew bitter and lashed out, “Hey asshole, I’m just as scared as you that gives you no excuse to be a douchebag even if your pussy lips are quivering!”

“I am a fucking father, asshole, I have two kids to get back to, and a wife! You think I don’t realize the gravity of the situation? What do you have to live for?”

Richie shoved him, and Stan shoved back. Bill broke it up before punches could be thrown.

“Woah woah easy, easy, everybody calm d-down!” Bill shouted.

Richie took a couple steps back and began pacing.

“R-r-richie is right, w-we have to get off the island,” Bill made a face when he heard his stutter come back, which was a bitter realization of how afraid he was.

“The Brooklyn Bridge,” Eddie stood up and walked over to the rest of the group, “We walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and we’re off the island.”

“Do you know the way?” Mike the Floridian asked.

Eddie nodded and uncomfortably began to lead the pack.

The closer they got to the bridge, the more people showed up with the same plan. It became a sea of madness on the bridge as people walked in between abandoned cars and began the journey across. Not even a third of the way, Eddie looked over the side and saw how long of a fall it was to the water below. Everything came crashing down then and there, and he clung to the side and started hyperventilating again. Richie took notice right away and ran to his side as an aid.

“Shit Eddie, breathe Eds, breathe! We’re going to be okay.”

“I should’ve listened to Myra, I wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight I want to go home,” it was rare to see a grown man cry, but here he was, Eddie Kaspbrak, crying on the side of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Richie didn’t know what to do.

“No, no Eddie Myra is controlling and a terrible person to you,” he turned to the other Losers who were getting further from the two. No one realized that they stopped.

“GUYS, HOLD ON FUCK! STAN!!!”

Stan heard his name and froze, then turned and saw the stragglers. He ushered Bill in their direction and Bill threw his arms in the air in confusion as the two headed over.

“What’s going on?” Stanley asked.

“Eddie’s having a panic attack,” Richie answered for him, who was doubled over hitting his inhaler hard.

“S-shit,” Bill ran his hand through his hair in a panic, then saw Mike, Ben, and Beverly almost twenty feet away from them. He began to shout Bev’s name, and she turned and saw the situation, then pulled Mike and Ben over to the side as they couldn’t walk against the crowd. She shouted questions, and Bill shouted answers. Eddie puffed at his inhaler, and Richie consoled him. 

Stan’s scream interrupted the loud scene, and a giant tail came crashing down into the bridge. Bodies and cars were crushed into the river. Like a magnet, people began to repel away from the tragedy and back into the city. Richie didn’t remember who started running first, him or Eddie, but their hands were linked as a flight instinct carried them all the way back into the streets. They stopped in front of a Sephora to process what happened. To Richie’s relief, Bill and Stan were behind them the whole time. The four were all either doubled over or leaning on the walls catching their breath.

“That didn’t just happen, right?” Richie asked and dreaded the answer that no one gave. 

“W-where are the others??” Bill asked, then spun around in a panic, “D-d-did they g-get hit???”

Stan couldn’t speak, it was all too overwhelming. He watched the calamity happen, he’s the only one who saw the monster before it destroyed the bridge, killing God knows how many people. Ben, Bev, and Mike looked far enough away to not have been struck, but he couldn’t be too certain. Richie opened his phone and went to call Beverly.

“Shit! No signal...” Richie laughed nervously.

“The phone lines must be down, I have zero bars,” Eddie held up his phone and looked across the three men with a defeated look.

Stan nodded in agreement to his statement, and Bill ran his fingers through his hair, then kicked the nearest trash can, sending loud tremors through the air. They weren’t the only stragglers, terrified people ran every which way around them. Ironically, you would think mass hysteria would be enough to stop anarchy, but when pedestrians began to break into a nearby electronic store, the four realized that humans will always be greedy.

Bill’s eyes widened as an idea popped into his mind, and he began to march across the street to said store. 

“Woah Bill wait up!” Richie called after him, and followed his friend quickly as Eddie and Stan weren’t too far behind. 

People were smashing through the glass windows and robbing the place of televisions and etc. Bill strode right past them and made his way behind the counter, then pulled a Nokia cellphone from the shelf and began to open it. Richie stumbled his way inside the building and made his way over to Bill. Once he realized what his friend was up to he didn’t question it. Stan and Eddie came in not a second later. 

A couple of large televisions were still broadcasting the calamity, showing live footage of the creature storming through Manhattan from a sky cam. Eddie and Stan watched it in disbelief, and Richie joined them as Bill attempted to call Beverly from his burner phone.

The news switched to a second camera on the ground as military personnel rolled tanks in and unloaded rounds into the overwhelmingly huge leg of the monster. As the camera zoomed in, they could clearly see things falling off the skin of this beast, only it wasn’t debris, it was parasites the size of large dogs. There were hundreds of them that came down to feast on soldiers. Eddie had to look away and cover his mouth before he could watch this live feed of manslaughter. Richie looked over to Eddie, and swore to himself that he would protect this man with his life. 

Stan’s eyes were glued to the screen and he shook his head in disbelief. The camera shooting on the ground was destroyed and the feed was cut short. Stan then turned to Richie and Eddie.

“We’ll get out of this, no man left behind,” he concluded.

It was a little surprising seeing this come from Stan. Stanley was the kind of person who appreciates the simple things in life more than anything. He wasn’t a hero or a leader, but he was a survivor wise beyond his years. Eddie nodded vigorously, taking comfort in his friend’s words.

“If I’m not killed by this then my wife’s gonna kill me,” he added, nervously.

Richie wanted to say something of comfort, but was interrupted when Bill walked over and gestured that he got Beverly on the other side of the line. Richie nodded in relief, and the three eavesdropped in on the conversation.

“...Okay B-Bev, I’m g-g-glad you all made it. ... Don’t w-worry about us, uh, w-we’re all still alive and s-still t-t-t-...t-together. ... Oh yeah? Well w-we’ll do. ... I will. ... Talk to you soon. ... B-Bye,” and he hung up.

“They’re okay?” Eddie asked and Bill nodded.

“They made it to B-Brooklyn.”

“Thank god...” Stanley sighed.

“Survival of the fittest, eh?” Richie started, “Good to know we’re the weakest links.”

Eddie shook his head and rubbed his eyes, muttering, “This is my fault.”

“Don’t b-b-blame yourself Eddie, that w-won’t do us any good,” Stuttering Bill said sternly.

“Eddie, cut yourself some slack, you can’t control panic attacks,” Stan said calmly. Richie offered a hand for comfort, but drew it back not knowing if this was the time or place.

Eddie looked up at Richie, then put on a brave face and said, “Whatever, the apocalypse is no place to wallow in self pity.”

“That’s the spirit,” Richie gave a half smile.

“What did Bev say?” Stan asked Bill.

“Sh-she said that there s-should be rescue teams helping people evacuate, so w-we just have to find them.”

Richie looked out the window of the store they stood in, and spotted tanks and trucks full of men in uniform rolling down the street.

“Think they’d know where to find them?” Richie said sarcastically, then started to the door as his friends followed. He threw it open and booked it down the street, following a truck of armed soldiers.

“Hey!” He shouted, “Hey we need help! We need to get to Brooklyn!”

They couldn’t hear him over all the noise around them. Sirens blared, people ran and screamed, and their trucked purred. Manhattan was a living, breathing entity, and when it was scared, it became a stampede. 

A terrible roar stopped Richie in his tracks. He looked up, and saw it once more. This time, it wasn’t obscured by the damage it created, and it was uncomfortably close. He could see it’s mouth, gaping like a Venus fly trap, with rows and rows of horrid teeth, as it bellowed an ear splitting howl. The squadron that he was following began to unload their firearms at the thing, which created even more noise, enough for Richie to get trapped in his own mind.

“RICHIE!!!” Eddie yelling his name was all it took to snap out of it. Before he could react, Eddie grabbed his arm and hurried him to the side of the road where the two could take refuge behind a dormant car. Stan and Bill where in the same position on the other side of the street. Richie got up to run away, but was dragged down again by Eddie as more and more militia and tanks rolled into the scene. The four were caught in the middle of a battle.

Richie stared in the direction of the action, then pried his eyes away before he could witness any deaths.

“Are you okay Rich?” Eddie shouted over the sound of gunfire.

“That’s a big ask Eds!” He looked through the broken windows of the car over to where Stan and Bill hid, and made eye contact with Denbrough. Bill began to point to his right, and Richie’s eyes followed his direction. He was pointing to the subway. Richie threw up a thumbs up to Bill, then turned back to Eddie.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to make a run for it!” Richie finally said.

“We can’t go out there, we’ll get fucking shot!”

“It’s our best bet, if we stay here we will die!”

“Fuck Richie, fuck you!!”

“Fuck you too! On my mark, ready??”

“Yeah I guess fucking so!”

“Now!!!”

Tozier grabbed Kaspbrak’s hand, then dove out from behind the car and into the war zone. This was Stan and Bill’s cue to start running too, and they all reconvened on the other side of the street. The four bolted down the stairs into the subway and ducked as tanks fired. They hopped over the toll booths and didn’t stop running until they were at the train station. Underground it was quiet, save for the sound of four men gasping for air, and the ridiculing rumbling coming from the ceiling. It smelled of piss and gasoline, the welcoming stench of Manhattan’s subway system. Richie looked at his three friends.

“Is everyone alright?” He asked, almost astounded at the echo of his voice.

The four all exchanged glances and nodded. 

“Oh shit...” Eddie said weakly as he touched his shoulder and examined the blood that was now on his fingers. Richie felt all the blood drain from his face when he saw the bullet wound. He froze when Bill and Stan went to grab Eddie before he could fall. They placed him gently up against one of the concrete pillars, and he winced.

“It doesn’t look fatal,” Stan confirmed, and Bill nodded. Stan began to unbutton the lavender button up that Kaspbrak sported. He pulled it down enough to see the wound, and that's when Richie realized he had moved to Eddie’s side.

“I’m going to have to take the bullet out, it seems shallow enough,” Stan said in a shaky voice. Bill spat out a stuttered curse.

“Oh great,” Eddie said, unable to do anything about the pain awaiting him.

“Rich, I’m gonna need your jacket to help stop the bleeding,” Stan said in a forced calm facade.

Richie said nothing, he was in shock.

“Richie, jacket, now!” Stan repeated.

It took a moment for Richie to register what he was told, then stripped his jacket and handed it to Stanley Uris quickly.

“H-hey Eds, don’t look at Stan look at me, okay?” Richie was trying to be some form of distraction for Eddie, but was clearly just as afraid as him, maybe even more so.

Eddie let their eyes meet and he nodded. Stan began the procedure, sliding a finger into the bullet hole. Eddie’s eyes widened as pain shot through his entire being, and a horrible squeal escaped his lips. On instinct, he looked down at the finger inside his shoulder.

“No no Eddie look at me, look at me,” Richie reminded, and Eddie did as he was told, clenching his teeth and sniffling 

“Do you remember when you basically performed surgery on Ben after he got his shit cut up at the Barrens?” Richie began with.

“H-how could I forget? You were the only thing distracting me from becoming the Dr. Oz of thirteen year olds.”

“Yeah yeah that's the stuff, and Bev helped you shoplift for the first time. That was an act of heroism I have to admit.”

“God those where the days- FUCK!!!” Eddie’s whole body convulsed as Stan successfully removed the piece of metal, studying the way Eddie’s blood on his fingers looked, how the red was so dark it was almost black, and proceeded to wrap the wound with Richie Tozier’s Jacket.

“Y-you okay Eddie?” Bill asked carefully.

“Ask me again later,” he replied through clenched teeth.

They stayed in the subway for what felt like hours. Bill paced nervously, and Stan watched from the ground where he sat. Richie sat next to Eddie, propped up against the concrete pillar. Their hands remained interlocked, resting on their thighs. Eddie’s head found a comfortable home wedged in between Richie’s shoulder and cheek. The rumbling coming from above their heads was incessant, almost mocking them. Eddie flinched suddenly.

“You good..?” Richie asked gently.

“I fell asleep...”

“How was your nap then?”

“I dreamt that this was a nightmare.”

Stan’s phone suddenly rang, and the four men froze, realizing that their signal was back. He stood and answered it.

“Patty, baby hey, ok ok calm down, calm down, I’m okay...” he walked a little ways away from the other three to have an intimate conversation with his wife. Bill watched his friend carefully before he opened his own phone and contacted the others in Brooklyn. Eddie sighed deeply before checking his cell. He cringed at the 36 missed calls from “Myra Kaspbrak”, then went to call her back, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. Sitting right next to Eddie, Richie could hear Myra screaming through the phone perfectly clearly, and she wasn’t even on speaker. What started as reassuring conversation of don’t-worry-I’m-okay-s quickly turned into her yelling I-told-you-so-s and angry threats. Eddie was over it, anger visibly building in his chest. He snapped. 

“Myra, if I make it out of this alive, I want a divorce.”

That statement left Richie stunned, and he heard the woman on the other line shriek a hateful “WHAAAAAT”. He stared at their interlocked fingers as Eddie gave his hand a light squeeze, then hung up and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

“I guess you could say that was long overdue,” Richie said with a sheepish grin.

Eddie didn’t have the strength to answer, so Richie shut up.

“...You’re incredibly brave for doing that Eds, abuse is tricky,” Richie said quietly.

Eddie smiled to himself at that, and squeezed Richie’s hand again.

Stan hung up his conversation with his wife after a while and sighed deeply.

“How is she..?” Richie asked quietly.

“Scared shitless,” Stan said with a nod.

Bill hung up his phone as well and joined the others.

“So w-what’s the plan? Do we walk the t-t-track or what?” 

“What’s the alternative?” Asked Eddie.

“We face the music back upstairs,” and Richie pointed to the rumbling ceiling.

“So we walk the train track,” Stan confirmed, then helped Eddie to his feet.

Walking the track wasn’t a bad idea, all the trains were most definitely at a halt, it was just dark. Completely dark, and underground. In retrospect it was the safest exit, but everyone had something to fear in the dark. Rats, tight spaces, the tunnel caving in on itself, creatures watching from the corners. Regardless, they took off into the tunnel and followed the track. They walked in silence for about ten minutes, which sucked. It gave them the opportunity to hear every single scream coming from the surface. To break the tension, Richie started to sing quietly. His taste in music was infamous, it’s either really mellow punk stuff you’d find at a vinyl shop, or just the worst 80s bubblegum pop. His pick of the evening was Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl”. He sang quiet enough as to not draw any kind of unwanted attention, but loud enough for it to echo in the cavern sweetly. His voice wasn’t spectacular, but it was comforting in a squeaky way. Naturally, Bill began to sing along. Eddie smiled to himself.

“Beep beep Richie,” Stan finally said.

“Wh- Oh so you’d rather listen to the sultry sounds of people dying upstairs?”

“Just not Uptown Girl for the love of God.”

“How about some good old fashion Starship?”

“Oh God Richie-“

“_ Looking in your eyes I see a paradise _~...”

“Wait, shut up Rich.”

“_ This world that I’ve found- _“

“Shut UP Richie! I heard something,” Stan stopped in his tracks.

“Hey, don’t try to freak us out,” Richie felt around in the darkness for Eddie’s hand.

“N-no, I heard it too,” Bill confirmed.

“Ugh, disgusting!” Eddie cried as a frenzy of rats scurried over his feet. What was unsettling about the rats is that they were all running in the same direction; away.

“Who’s phone has a flashlight?” asked Stan.

Richie scrambled for his from his pocket, “Mine.”

He shone the dimly lit glow across his shoes, then accidentally got Eddie in the face.

“Agh!”

“My bad.”

The light trailed across the walls of the cave, then to the ceiling, where it met the three sets of glowing eyes stalking the men.

“FUCK RUN!!!”

No one was quite sure who yelled that, but they didn’t have time to think about it. They took off down the track, using Richie’s now swaying light as a shaky guide. The dog sized parasites dropped from the ceiling and followed their prey quickly, snarling and growling, growing hungrier as they chased. 

Bill was able to find a discarded beer bottle in the darkness, which he weaponized to defend himself. The form of a slobbering, skinny creature began to make a beeline towards him, and on a whim, he slashed its throat, and the bottle shattered.

Two remained, one chasing down Stan, the other Richie and Eddie. Stan found himself a ledge to hop up on and gain the upper hand. Once above the scene, he was able to kick the creature away, hard. It fell back whimpering and scurried away.

Richie tripped over some train track, and before he could regain his footing, he was tackled to the ground by the little bastard. The surprising strength of the creature threw him for a whirl as he tried to push it’s gnashing jaws away from his face.

“FUCK HELP GET IT OFF OF ME!!!”

Suddenly, it convulsed, and a waterlogged groan escaped its lips. It went limp, and Richie was able to throw it aside and see the pry-bar caught in its head, and a shaken up Eddie standing above him.

“I want to go home,” Eddie admitted, and helped Richie to his feet. Before he could give Kaspbrak any words of recognition, Stan called from his ledge.

“There’s a door!”

The three scrambled over to Stan as he opened a door and light flooded the tunnel. Richie helped Eddie climb up onto the ledge and Bill closed the door behind them. They were inside what looked like a maintenance crew break room, equipped with a couple of sofas, a vending machine, a cabinet, and a small fridge.

Eddie didn’t wait for an invitation to sit on the couch. He fell off his feet and rested. Bill broke into the vending machine and took water and food, Richie helped. Stan also took to the couches.

“I’m getting too old for this shit,” Uris admitted.

“Hey Rich?” Eddie started.

“Yeah Eds, what’s up?” 

“Can you help me clean my wound? A water bottle should be fine.”

“Oh, uh yeah.”

Bill handed a bottle to Richie, who took it graciously. The fact that Eddie trusted him enough to sterilize a hole in his shoulder was flattering, but also terrifying. The implications that came from it were a lot to take in right now, plus, he had no idea what the fuck he was doing.

Gently, he began to unwrap his jacket from around Eddie’s shoulder and armpit. His skin was gleaming with sweat, and darker from the blood, slowly bruising around the bullet hole. Richie felt himself flush from the little space between the two.

“So I just... pour it on there..?” Richie hesitated.

“Yeah, it’s not perfectly sterile but it’ll do for the time being.”

“Okay, this is going to be a little cold.”

He slowly poured the water onto the wound, and Eddie hissed, but powered though until he deemed it was enough. Richie rewrapped the jacket, then patted Eddie’s lower arm lightly.

“Ow!”

“Sorry.”

The four spent the next thirty minutes eating power bars and drinking their fill of water, unsure when the next time they would have an opportunity for fuel would be. It was silent, save for the sounds of eating and their deep sighs. Richie finally broke the silence.

“So much for L.A.”

“You should’ve left yesterday,” Stan said playfully.

“I dunno, this Losers reunion has been one for the books.”

“W-we’ve had better,” Bill smiled.

“Yeah, like the college grad party,” Eddie added.

Richie reminisced. That was the last Losers reunion before he and Eddie has their falling out. It was a good night, full of laughs and drunken skinny dipping.

“Oh god, didn’t we all skinny dip that night?” Richie said with a laugh.

Stan hid a chuckle, “Yeah.”

“God we got hammered,” Eddie snickered to himself until the pain in his arm forced him to stop.

“I wish I was hammered right now,” Richie admitted.

“M-me too,” Bill added.

The four laughed lightly, then trailed off.

“Um,” Stan started, “This leads out into a mall, I checked earlier. Should we push forward?”

“Yeah, lets go,” Bill stood up, and the others followed begrudgingly.

They crept out the door to avoid any surprise attacks, then powered on through a department store. A blinding light filled the mall, much to the Loser’s surprise.

“What? Is it morning?” Richie was discombobulated.

The four began to speed walk towards the source of the light, until Eddie stopped suddenly. Richie paused.

“Eds, you okay?”

“I’m fine, just dizzy...”

“Do you need to sit down?”

Eddie hesitated.

“No, no I’m fine, lets keep going,” he said, marching forward. In his haziness, he tripped over a display, and a mannequin came crashing down. The Losers flinched at the crashing sound. In the same moment, a squadron of soldiers came out of nowhere, yelling commands at the four with their weapons drawn.

“HANDS UP WHERE I CAN SEE EM!”

Richie complied, “Woah woah we’re just trying to get to Brooklyn!!!”

“You’re evacuees?”

“Yes!”

“You’re all incredibly lucky, follow us, quickly!”

The Losers did as they were told and followed the men. Eddie slowed down for a moment, and ached as he held his arm. The leader of the team stopped suddenly.

“Is he bit???” He asked threateningly.

“Bit???” Eddie wondered.

“By one of the parasites that fell off the target.”

“Oh, no no, I got shot.”

“Hm, we’ll get you first aid once we get you inside.”

They were lead to the source of the light; quarantined section of the mall, covered in thin, white, sheet walls. The Losers were ushered through a plastic seal, and brought into a sick bay of survivors. There were hundreds of people, most of them injured and being tended to. Medics carrying a man on a stretcher dashed by. Eddie took one glance at said man and nearly passed out at the sight of the patient’s chest hollow chest cavity, seemingly torn out.

The four were set up in one corner of the madness. A couple of nurses came to Eddie’s side and began to redress his wound. He was given an IV, stitches, and a professionally done bandage job. Richie stared down the physicians, making sure Eddie was in the proper hands. They left quickly after they did what they needed to do, leaving the Losers dazed and confused.

“How’s your wound?” Stan asked, sitting down next to him.

“Not ideal,” Eddie smiled.

Bill was pacing, asking everyone who walked by when they could get out of Manhattan. He didn’t get a definitive answer.

“Why were they asking about a bite?” Richie seemed concerned. 

“They’re giant, unknown parasites, who knows what diseases they carry,” Eddie said, nearly gagging at the thought.

Bill rejoined the others, “Okay, s-s-so they’re sending in some choppers who will t-take us off the island in about an hour.”

The three all sighed with relief.

“Fuck we made it,” Eddie laughed lightly.

“I’m going to call Patty and fill her in,” Stan stood up.

“I’ll tell Bev and the others,” Bill did the same, and the two walked off to find a quiet place to take a call.

Eddie punched Richie’s shoulder, and he flinched.

“Ow!”

“How’s that for a going away party?” Eddie smirked.

Richie couldn’t help but smile back, “I’ve seen better.”

“Bullshit!”

“I’m telling you, our college grad party is undefeated. Plus, little Eddie winked at me way back when we were in the pool.”

“Oh so that’s what made the night? Seeing my dick?”

“Being in that pool- It was like carrot soup.”

“You’re disgusting,” Eddie said, but he was smiling.

Eddie’s smile was the best thing in the world. The way his thin lips curled up into a grin, causing his cheeks to wrinkle up around the eyes, it exudes joy. Richie licked his lips anxiously, glancing from Eddie’s smile to his eyes and back to the smile. Eddie’s smile faded and his lips parted slightly. Medics rushed a woman over to the space next to them before anything could happen between the two. She was pale, sweating bullets, and Eddie’s eyes widened.

“Holy shit,” he didn’t mean to say it, but severe medical scenes always put him in a panic.

She looked too tired to be embarrassed, and the doctors started to nurse the deep claw marks on her leg. She was given an IV, then the medics had to rush away to the next patient. Richie was staring at her wounded leg, and Eddie was looking at everything but the gnarly wound.

“It’s rude to stare you know,” she half laughed.

Rich stuttered, “Ah, sorry I-“

“It’s fine, I was joking.”

“Ah.”

“Damn Richie, I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Comedy,” Eddie snarked.

“I’m a little distracted right now.”

The woman winced, and blinked heavily. Blood dripped from her eyes. Eddie freaked out.

“Um, um?!” He cowarded away.

“That can’t be good,” she coughed weakly.

“What the fuck is happening?” Richie stood and began to back up.

The woman lifted her shirt at the stomach, revealing a visibly throbbing bite mark. Eddie shot up to Richie’s side, and a nearby medic yelled a warning.

“BITE!!!”

Before the woman could be collected by a fleet of doctors, she began to tremble. Her eyes rolled back into her skull, torso began pulsate quicker and quicker, until _ pop _. Guts splattered everywhere, and she was left a literal shell of a cadaver.

Richie held Eddie’s face to his chest and looked away himself as the medics collected the hollow corpse and took her away.

Eddie pulled away once he felt like it was safe to look, then rolled his stomach and vomited. Bill and Stan ran back.

“W-w-what the fuck was that??” Stuttering Bill wondered, staring at the human organs and blood splattered across the ground. Eddie wiped his mouth and just shook his head. Richie was caught in between staring at Eddie and back down at the gore on the floor. He snapped out of it, and looked to Bill.

“When did you say the helicopters were coming?”

About forty minutes later, groups of survivors where being piled out the mall into the streets, where helicopters were waiting. It was still dark outside, and the damage was devastating. The Losers got unlucky and were forced to the back of the line. Eddie and Richie clung to each other the whole wait, scared of what would happen if they let go. Over the violent purr of the choppers, the sound of gunfire ensued in the distance. That terrible, terrible roar sounded, and some anxious evacuees screamed, which made the Losers antsy. Finally, they were up. Bill was loaded into a helicopter, and just as Stan reached for the handle bar, he was stopped.

“Sorry, this one’s full!” A soldier shouted over the noise.

“Wh- this is the last one,” Stan’s voice sounded helpless.

The soldier began to shut the doors, ignoring Bill’s protest.

“P-p-please, those are my friends!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, there’s more choppers on their way!”

“Bill, wait for us okay?” Stan shouted after accepting their predicament.

Bill gave his friends a hopeless stare and nodded. The helicopter took off. Eddie began to panic again, Richie could feel his pulse as he yanked at his shirt. Richie sucked in his pride and cupped Eddie’s face in his hands.

“We’re gonna make it out of this, you hear me dammit? We’re here, we’re next up, we’re together!”

Eddie gazed into Richie’s eyes, and found some solace in his words.

“Are you saying this to comfort me or yourself?”

“Fuck if I know, I- I don’t know why this is happening and I just-“

“I know, I get it...”

There was no space between them at this point, Eddie’s hands rested on Richie’s shoulders. Tozier’s hands were gently on his cheeks. It might’ve been Richie who leaned in first, but Stan couldn’t 100% tell from where he stood. They kissed like the world was ending, because it was. As the roaring got louder, they didn’t pull away. It looked as if they thought the closer they got, they would merge into one, safe entity, and everything would be okay. As if their feelings for each other could save their lives. They only pulled away when the sound of an approaching helicopter showed up. It landed, and the doors opened. Eddie boarded first, Richie was behind him making sure he wouldn’t slip and fall. Once Eddie was on, Richie boarded, then offered a hand to his best friend Stanley. Stan smiled, and went to take it, when a parasite came out of nowhere and tackled him. 

Richie screamed bloody murder, watching it sink its teeth into Uris’s back. The chopper began to lift off, and Stan dangled from Richie’s hand as he tried to fight the creature off of him. Richie tried his best to grasp the side of the helicopter so they both wouldn’t fall, and Eddie grabbed Richie’s other arm to keep him in. Richie struggled and repositioned himself in a contorted way, then kicked the creature off Stan. It howled as it plummeted to its death, and Stan was yelling in agony. The pilots began to shout commands to either get in or let go as the chopper got higher and higher. Stan was suspended 50 feet in the air, swaying just by one man’s hand.

“STAN!!! Stan get in quick c’mon I can pull you up buddy you just gotta help me out here!!!” Richie cried, visibly struggling with Uris’s body weight.

Stanley looked at Eddie, then to Richie and coughed out a smile.

“Rich, you saw what happened to that girl earlier, it's over for me...”

“No, no don’t fucking say that we- we can find a cure-“

“I’m running out of time, I don’t want to experience what that woman did, you gotta get out of here Rich, let me go.”

Stan’s grip loosened. Richie wailed.

“Fuck you Stan, fuck you!!! You said no man left behind!!!”

Eddie began to tear up, then put his other hand on Richie’s back.

“Rich, he’s right we have to go now!”

A soldier looked back at the scene and barked, “Let him go!!! It’s fucking coming!!!”

Stan smiled knowingly, and his hand began to slip.

“Tell Patty and the girls I love them.”

He fell slowly, looking up at the night sky. Richie watched Stan fall, his descent to the ground quickening as gravity sucked him down. Eddie pulled Richie back into the chopper before he could see the impact. Richie screamed out tears as they were finally able to escape. Eddie consoled the wailing man with a tight hug, refusing to let go. After an intense moment of grief, Richie lifted his head from Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie wiped tears from his face and nodded in understanding. Their hands remained interlocked when they looked out the window. They were now at a far enough distance to see the titan from a birds eye view. Jets flew by, dropping bombs on the monster. If the moment wasn’t full of an overwhelming sense of mourning, the two would be cheering as the monster collapsed momentarily before it got to its feet and swatted at the jets. 

The further they got, the easier it was to see the collective damage done to Manhattan. Truly a devastating sight, what was once a seemingly alive entity was now smoking and broken. Bomb sirens sounded, and Richie held Eddie’s hand tightly as the final missile was launched. A mushroom cloud of smoke and flames blossomed, and Manhattan was dead.

14-MAY-2009, 0100, Atlanta GA

Richie tore through a backyard, a little girl on his shoulders, with his boyfriend carrying her twin in a similar position. Laughter filled the peaceful summer afternoon as Patty watched her kids play from a comfortable seat on the back porch. Beverly sat next to her, they shared a pitcher of iced tea which was resting on a small glass table. Ben stood at a grill, barbecuing pork with Mike and Bill at his sides enjoying cool beers. Ben smiled at Bev, and she smiled back.

“AUGHH I’M DOWWNNN!!!” Richie cried dramatically and scooped the little girl in his arms before hitting earth. She giggled as Eddie and her sister zipped past her. Richie played dead, and she patted his cheek.

“Uncle Richie?”

“Yes Robin?”

“Can you tell me the story about daddy again?”

“Oh, the one where he saves the day?”

“Mhmm!”

“Hoo boy, alright. Eds, bring Wren over here she might want to hear this!”

Eddie stopped in his tracks, then ran over to the two making airplane noises as Wren giggled on his shoulders. He gently placed her next to her sister, and glanced over at Patty and Beverly who were staring at him and his boyfriend. Eddie mouthed, “I’m getting too old for this,” and sat next to Rich.

“Okay, the story of the superhero: Stan the Man,” Richie began with wild hand gestures. The girls smiled and leaned in close.

“A giant monster awoke from his long nap, and he was cranky! Manhattan was in danger, so Stan the Man knew he had to do something. With his eagle like wings, he swooped down and scooped up all the Losers and flew them to safety.”

Wren raised her hand.

“Yes Wren?”

“Why are you guys the Losers? Good guys are winners, aren’t you the good guys?”

Richie cracked a smile and looked to Eddie, who was also chuckling.

“Well, we didn’t always feel like winners, you know? As you grow up, you’ll realize that too, and we decided that being a loser was okay, so we took the name and made it our own.”

“Careful Rich, you’re mind boggling them,” Eddie said with a light kiss on the cheek. Richie blushed, and the girls began a choir of “EEEWWWWW” and giggled.

Richie continued, “Alright enough enough, remember girls, boys have cooties,” and he winked, “Back to Stan the Man. He saved the Losers, but the monster was still destroying the city. He turned to your Uncle Richie and said, ‘Tell Patty and the girls I love them’, then grabbed the monster and flew up into space! Gravity was no match for Stan the Man! And he’s still in space, protecting his family from above, just like a bird.”

Richie got a little choked up at the end, and he looked over to Patty who was crying softly to herself. They smiled at each other, then Richie took Eddie’s hand. In this moment, the sound of birds chirping was the only thing to be heard in the backyard.


End file.
